Christmas Brunch

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Bailey's french toast, baked french toast, baked ham, Christmas, Christmas Brunch, Christmas Menu, Christmas tradition, Holiday, holiday menu, holiday tradition, potato slices, spiral ham

This year Santa made an early detour to our house. Late last night, my MIL, FIL and two nephews came for our “Christmas Eve”. Three days before, I was unsure of which meal(s) my in-laws would be joining us. I knew the morning present opening was going to be wonderful, but wanted brunch to be just as amazing. I prepared dishes that could mostly be prepped the night before. Our Christmas Brunch Menu consisted of Bailey’s Baked French Toast, Spiral Baked Ham, Potato Slices and fresh pineapple.

Bailey’s Baked French Toast
Ingredients:
8 Tbs. butter, 1 c. brown sugar, 2 Tbs. corn syrup, 1 large loaf of french bread (I used a baguette), 5 eggs, 1 c. heavy cream, 1/2 c. Bailey’s Irish Cream, 1 Tbs. vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Pour into a glass baking dish. Cut bread into thick slices, and lay them in a single layer in brown sugar mixture, squish them in. Whisk together eggs, heavy cream, vanilla, Bailey’s, cinnamon, and salt. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bring the bread mixture back to room temp. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Bailey's Baked Fresh Toast

Spiral Cut Baked Ham
Ingredients:
Spiral Cut Ham, brown sugar, molasses, honey, nutmeg, walnuts or pecans, 2 golden delicious apples, lemon juice, butter.

Directions:
Slice and bone ham. Slice and core the apple wedges, soak in the lime juice and drain. Layer all the ingredients in a casserole dish and bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Baked Ham

Potato  Slices
Ingredients:
Potatoes, EVOO, paprika, sea salt, pepper, minced onions

Directions:
Sliced the potatoes and coat them with the olive oil. Toss in all the seasoning and spread out onto a tray. Bake at 350°F for an hour.

Potato Slices

We got a coating of snow and had a white Christmas and sipped hot cocoa while unwrapping our gifts, then brunch begin. Yum yum!

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Gingerbread Cookies & Cake

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chocolate gingerbread, Christmas, Christmas dessert, Christmas Menu, Christmas tradition, dessert, dessert recipe, gingerbread cake, Holiday

I don’t normally post more than once a day, however circumstances change. After blogging about the Gingerbread Baby Bundts I made for a family event, several of my friends have been asking about various gingerbread recipes.

Marie this one is for you:
Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients:
1 c. vegetable oil, 1 c. dark brown sugar, 1 c. molasses (I use full flavor), 2 Tbs. ground ginger, 2 eggs, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 1 c. hot water (boiling), 1 Tbs. baking soda, 2 c. chocolate chips (I used dark)

Directions:
Grease cake pan (unless using non-stick) and preheat oven 325°F. Whisk together oil, sugar and molasses.  In another bowl, mix together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Combine the sugar mixture with the flour. Add baking soda to the water and slowly mix into cake mixture. Add chocolate chips and then transfer batter to pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. My baby bundts took 14 minutes. Once cooled pour or drizzle chocolate ganache overtop.

*To control the amount of chips going into each baby bundt, I added the chocolate chips after I put the batter in the pan and gently tamped them down into the batter.

Vangie, this one is for you:
After giving it some thought, maybe your husband remembers chocolate gingerbread cookies instead of regular gingerbread cookie. Give it a try, if not we’ll try to convert the cake recipe?
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
8 oz. grated chocolate, 1 1/2 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1 Tbs. cocoa powder, 1 stick butter, 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, 1/2 c. molasses, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. hot water (boiling)

Directions:
Mix together flour, spices, cocoa and chocolate. In another bowl blend butter, brown sugar and molasses. Mix together baking soda with hot water. Slowly add the flour mixture and baking soda to the butter mixture. Refrigerate mixture for a few hours to allow the flavors to marry (and to firm). Roll into balls or use a cookie cutter, dip in granulated sugar and then place on a baking tray. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes

Vangie, let me know how this one turns out, we can figure out how to adjust it to make one that tastes more like he remembers (just ask if it too gingery, floury, sweet… etc…).

Chocolate Gingerbread Baby Bundts

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bundt cake, cake, cake recipe, chocolate gingerbread, Christmas dessert, Christmas Menu, dessert, dessert recipe, gingerbread, gingerbread cake, recipe, Thanksgiving dessert, Thanksgiving menu, Thanksgiving recipes

Hubster’s family gets Thanksgiving Day (which is hard for me, because they don’t watch the parade in the am!). The first year I was involved in their festivities he didn’t inform me there would be two dinners. After stuffing myself in the Thanksgiving fashion at his maternal aunt’s dinner, he said, “I hope you saved room!” Now he tells me! Then we headed to his paternal grandmother’s house for another round! His grandmother kept placing more and more food on my plate (after my first plate), insisting I needed more meat on my bones. I was struggling not to get sick and not to offend my future family.

This year, my MIL is hosting dinner at her house, so both sides are attends. One dinner. Huge *sigh* of relief! I’m bringing a dessert and decided to try out a new recipe as well as my new mini bundt pans. After his cousin, who’s also bringing a dessert, called me to coordinate, I decided to make a gingerbread cake and add some chocolate. Many chocolate gingerbread recipes aren’t the right balance for me, they add cocoa powder to the batter. I wanted to keep the gingerbread batter’s own flavor. I baked my gingerbread mini bundts for 18 minutes at 325°F, my batch of batter made 18 cakes. I decided to add chocolate chips to the batter and pour a chocolate ganache over top. If everyone enjoys this dessert, maybe I’ll make some to take to my sister’s Christmas!